I read this poem on Barnstorming the other day and knew that I had to pass it along. I adore the words of Robert Fulghum, but this seems particularly powerful for me lately as I have been thinking a lot about small town life and how powerful it can be to have a community that surrounds us and lifts us up regularly, often without even knowing it.
Without realizing it, we fill
important places in each others’ lives.
It’s that way with the guy at the corner grocery, the mechanic at the local garage,
the family doctor, teachers, neighbors, coworkers. Good people who are always “there,”
who can be relied upon in small,
important ways. People who teach us,
bless us, encourage us, support us,
uplift us in the dailiness of life.
We never tell them.
I don’t know why, but we don’t.
And, of course, we fill that role ourselves. There are those who depend on us,
watch us, learn from us, take from us. And we never know.
You may never have proof of your importance,
but you are more important than you think.
There are always those who couldn’t do without you.
The rub is that you don’t always know who.
~Robert Fulghum
Erica Staab 